An agricultural S&T assessment can answer such questions as:
What are the causes of nutritional insecurity and natural resource degradation and how do we overcome the barriers to alleviating hunger?
What are the necessary enabling conditions (in relation to policies, institutions, markets) to ensure farmers can adopt new technologies?
How can the gender balance in access to, and control of productive resources be improved; if so what will be the benefits?
Who bears the risks of new technologies? Is an equitable distribution of risk possible given enormous differences in North-South resources?
How do HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other endemic diseases affect agricultural production and livelihoods?
What are the implications of agricultural policies on the type of research conducted?